Buzz

by Shelley Munro

  “Sure.”

  Sebastian’s noncommittal reply bugged Wayne for the rest of the night and into the next morning. His friend was struggling with something. Wayne had no idea what the hell it was because, as usual, Sebastian was keeping his troubles close. He’d changed since his marriage but, thank god, Sebastian had come to his senses and called it quits on his union with Victoria, the barracuda. Maybe he was still healing or thought he was a failure. Some shit thing like that.

  Movement behind him had Wayne reaching for the coffee pot. He sloshed coffee into a mug and shunted it across the table to Sebastian.

  Wayne took in Sebastian’s reddened eyes and the dark shadows underneath. Taken in conjunction with a day’s stubble, it made him look like a thug. “You okay?”

  Sebastian grunted, his hand curling around the coffee mug.

  “Didn’t you sleep?”

  “No.”

  “Want to go out for brunch?”

  Sebastian glanced up from his coffee, cast him a look. “You buyin’?”

  “Yep.” Wayne drained the last of his coffee and stood. “Let’s go.”

  “Are you still going ahead with your plan to woo Jen?”

  Wayne tested the idea of abandoning his scheme. He scowled, not liking it at all. “Yes. It’s a good move.”

  Sebastian set his mug down and rose. “You’ll want me to shift out then. Find my own place.”

  “Hell no.” Wayne didn’t even have to think about it. “You’re like my brother, man. Closer than a brother. I figured we’d woo Jen together. Blue-eyed kids would work too.” To Wayne’s astonishment, Sebastian clenched his fists. He looked as if he wanted to flatten him. “What? What have I said wrong?”

  “A threesome isn’t normal.” Sebastian’s pale eyes flashed with temper. “Not if you want marriage and kids. Besides, don’t you think Jen should have a say in the matter? Way I heard it, she’s off men at present. She refused to speak to either of us after we went back inside the hall last night.”

  “Jen never holds a grudge.”

  “There’s always a first time. Are we doing brunch or not?” Sebastian grabbed the keys to his truck and stomped out the door.

  Wayne stared after his friend before slowly following. He’d get to the bottom of whatever was chafing Sebastian’s butt eventually.

  * * * * *

  “I’m not talking to you,” Jen said the second Gaby joined her at the corner table of the Sloan cafe.

  “What did I do?” Gaby batted her dark eyelashes, trying to pull off innocent. She didn’t come close.

  “You could have warned me about the remotes for your vibrators.” She glanced around the café and leaned closer to whisper, “Other people’s remotes worked on my vibrator.”

  Gaby clapped a hand over her mouth, but not quickly enough to hide her smirk. Caught in the act, she gave up trying to hold back her amusement. Her throaty chuckle rang out, attracting way too much attention for Jen’s peace of mind. When Gaby managed to pull herself together, she asked, “Um, do you know who had the remote?”

  “Wayne and Sebastian.” This time a grim tone shaded her voice. Her bosses. Of all people! Sex and her bosses together in the same sentence. That was dangerous territory. Nope, not going there.

  “Both of them?”

  Agh! “Yes.” And she still couldn’t believe the way she’d trembled and shivered in their arms. “I’ve never been so embarrassed in all my life, and it’s your fault. I heard your lecture about making sure I was on the Pill just in case the condoms broke, but I’m positive you never warned me about interchangeable remotes!”

  The doorbell tinkled, indicating that more customers had arrived.

  Gaby glanced up briefly before turning her attention back to Jen. With her black spiral curls and dancing eyes she looked the picture of an irrepressible imp. “Don’t you like them?”

  “Of course I like them but that’s not the point.”

  “What is the point, sweetheart?” The masculine drawl jerked Jen upright. Her spine struck the back of her wood and chrome chair.

  “They’re standing right behind me. Aren’t they?” Jen glared an accusation at Gaby. “You could have warned me.” Her head jerked around so rapidly it was a wonder she didn’t suffer whiplash. “You two always pop out of the woodwork at the perfect time to cause me maximum embarrassment.”

  “Pull up a seat,” Gaby said. “We’re about to order.”

  “I’m sure they have better things to do,” Jen said, glowering at the two men before focusing on her traitorous friend.

  “Not really.” Wayne’s brown eyes twinkled with mischief. The perfect foil for his shiny black hair. No doubt about it. The scalawag Maori god Maui must hover in his DNA. Excellent. Pair him with Gaby, and Jen had a matching set of imps.

  More serious with ice blue eyes and brutally short brown hair, Sebastian didn’t say anything, merely pulled out a chair and planted his muscular butt.

  Gaby clapped her hands together. “That’s settled then.”

  “You mean you want to witness them tormenting me. Newsflash, boys. No vibrator today.” Her voice had risen and heat galloped into her cheeks when she noticed the elderly women at the next table whispering to each other. She lowered her voice. “End of discussion.”

  “No need to worry. We have plenty of sex toys at home,” Wayne informed her. “You can take your pick.”

  Jen’s breath caught, and it was nothing to do with the mention of sex toys. It was the temptation to nod and agree to the crazy proposition. Food. That might fix her lightheadedness. “Breakfast is not the right time to discuss sex toys.”

  “It’s closer to lunch,” Wayne said, after a swift glance at his watch.

  “I discuss sex toys all day, every day,” Gaby piped up.

  “Quiet in the cheap seats.” Jen lowered her gaze and studied her menu. She knew it by heart, but she was frightened to witness their expressions. “What is everyone doing this afternoon? I’m going to work in the garden and mow the lawn before the place becomes even more of a jungle. I won’t have as much time once the school term starts the week after next.” Hmm, a fry-up or something healthy?

  “Fletch and Liam are working this morning,” Gaby said, mentioning her two men. “We might go for a swim at the river later if the sun keeps shining. I was thinking a picnic dinner since the days are so long now. You should come too. All of you.”

  “Tempting, but the gardening is a big job. I doubt I’ll finish in time.”

  “I’ll mow your lawns,” Sebastian said. “Wayne is visiting his family.”

  “True. I’d help, but it’s my mother’s birthday,” Wayne said.

  Jen jerked her attention from the coffee-splattered menu. “You don’t have to help me. I’m sure you have better things to do.”

  “Don’t argue,” Sebastian said, his tone final.

  Jen’s lips pressed together, keeping her words of protest trapped behind her teeth. For reasons unknown the powers that be had decided to give her a hard time this week. “Fine,” she gritted out, showing none of the gratitude such an offer would normally attract. “If you want to get all hot and sweaty it’s no skin off my nose.”

  “Sounds dirty,” Gaby said.

  “Shut up,” Jen snapped. “It’s not too late for me to order a hit man and set him on you.”

  “You’re a bloodthirsty wench,” Wayne said. “We’ll have to watch you.”

  “If you’d stop picking on me, you wouldn’t need to worry about hit men,” Jen snapped.

  “Ah, can I take your order now?” The young waitress edged away from Jen, her eyes wide and wary.

  Heck, where had she come from? Calm breaths. In. Out. In. Out. All she needed to do was get through one lousy breakfast. How difficult could it be?

  What followed next was an entire hour of teasing and leg-pulling, a lot of it at her expense. Gaby and Wayne were in top form while Sebastian appeared tired and plain grumpy, not contributing more than the odd grunt.

  They left the
cafe together, splitting up when they reached the small car park at the rear of the building. Jen’s house wasn’t far and she’d walked. She waved goodbye and set off, striding past the dress shop and the jeweler’s. Mrs. George, the florist, was busy setting out her buckets of pastel-colored stocks, and Jen sniffed appreciatively as she waved hello.

  A vehicle sounded behind her. Instead of speeding past, it slowed.

  “Jen, I’m gonna drop off Wayne. I’ll be at your place in half an hour,” Sebastian called.

  “You don’t have to mow my lawn.”

  “Don’t argue,” Wayne said.

  “Jen,” Sebastian said.

  Her name held a warning and she gave an irritable shrug. “Whatever.” Jen stormed away from his truck, feeling as if her life were careering out of control. She continued her stomping all the way home. Stupid man.

  In her bedroom, she changed into a pair of denim shorts and a tank top. She slapped a cap on her head and collected a trowel and a pair of gardening gloves from the garden shed at the rear of her house. Thankfully she only had one garden left to weed, the big one out the front. When her mother was still alive this garden had always been ablaze with color every summer, and the fragrant scent of sweet peas had filled the air.

  Sebastian pulled up in the driveway ten minutes later. He climbed out, still wearing a frown and looking like hell. “Where’s the mower?”

  “In the garden shed at the rear of the house. The petrol can is there too.”

  He gave her a clipped nod and stalked off. The man could be moody, yet he was always fair with his employees. Even so, he seemed worse than normal. Shaking away her curiosity, she returned to the garden bed and weeding.

  In the distance, the motor mower roared to life, and Jen started to yank both weeds and the remnants of old plants from the soil. Part of her wanted to replant the garden with sweet peas to hold the memory of her mother close. Yet common sense told her to fill the garden with no-fuss succulents. She wouldn’t need to water them much, and if she put down weed mat and pebbles, she’d save herself time when it came to weeding.

  Changes.

  Jen sighed and rotated her neck and shoulders to ease the tension that came from remaining in one spot for too long. She resumed pulling weeds. Moving on with her life was good. It was what her mother had wanted for her.

  Half an hour later the roar of the mower came closer as Sebastian started to mow the strip of lawn along the side of the house. From where she was weeding, she couldn’t help but notice that he’d removed his shirt and tucked it into the back pocket of his jeans. The black T-shirt trailed after him like a tail, but it was his sweaty torso, glinting in the sunshine, that grabbed her attention. Wow. Just wow. Muscles rippled as he pushed the mower in a methodical pattern around the lawn.

  A car slowed and turned into her driveway. She jerked her attention off Sebastian to face her visitor. Giles? What the heck did he want? Surely he’d said everything the evening before in his terse text?

  Jen removed her gardening gloves and stood, brushing the seat of her shorts with her hands as she went to meet Giles. Since he was here he could return the remote she’d given him for the vibrator.

  “Giles, what are you doing here?” she shouted, in an attempt to be heard above the mower.

  The mower stopped, leaving an uneasy silence and the ring of her voice.

  Giles smiled broadly. “I wanted to ask you out for dinner.”

  “You broke up with me last night. By text.” Her eyes narrowed on him. “You didn’t have the guts to do it in person.”

  “Look, babe. I’m sorry. I made a mistake. Let me take you out to dinner and make it up to you.”

  Jen’s fists clenched at her sides. “Where were you thinking of eating?”

  “We’ll go to the inn. It’s expensive but you’re worth it.”

  “Where did you go last night?” Her fingernails dug into her palms.

  “I had a migraine,” Giles said. “Seb, mate. What are you doing here? I didn’t realize you were having money problems and had started mowing lawns.” His ringing laughter was plain malicious.

  “Lying bastard,” Sebastian snapped from behind her. “I saw you with Rachel, down by the river last night when I drove past. You didn’t have a headache.” He took a couple of rapid steps toward Giles, but Jen grabbed Sebastian’s arm and dug in her heels until he stopped his advance.

  Giles retreated rapidly, his shoulders becoming tense with wariness.

  “Don’t hit him,” she said to Sebastian. She turned her attention back to Giles. “Sebastian is helping me with the garden work.”

  “Why not? He treated you like crap.”

  “Do not hit him. Giles, do you have the remote control for my vibrator?”

  “Yeah, it’s in the car.” Giles regained his confidence and smirked, his brows going up and down in a suggestive manner. “Should I push the power button?” His gaze wandered from her face, down her form-fitting T-shirt to linger at her crotch.

  “Could I have it please?” She smiled pleasantly.

  “Right now?”

  “Yes please.”

  Giles shrugged and opened his door to paw through the junk covering the passenger seat. “Ah, here it is.” He handed it over, letting his hand linger on hers during the transfer.

  “Thank you.” Jen repressed a shudder at his touch.

  “So how about dinner tonight? And maybe afterward we could experiment with the toys Gaby is always giving you.” He smiled and placed his hands on her shoulders.

  She shook them off. “I don’t think so, Giles. You’re a no-good, two-timing rat, and I wouldn’t date you again if you were the last man in New Zealand.”

  Shock flickered across Giles’ face, swiftly followed by anger. “I was only using you for sex,” he snarled.

  “Is that right?”

  A dangerous growl sounded behind her.

  “And you’re not even good at that,” Giles added.

  Jen’s fist lashed out before the thought even registered. She struck his nose with a loud, satisfying crunch.

  “Ow!” Blood poured down Giles’ face and splattered over his cotton shirt. He cradled his nose and moaned pitifully.

  “You should go,” Jen said.

  “I’ll press charges. I have a witness.”

  “I didn’t see a thing,” Sebastian said. “I was tying my bootlace.”

  Giles cursed and stumbled around to the driver’s door of his vehicle, still holding his nose. A few minutes later he drove off, steering with one hand and holding a wad of tissues to stem his bleeding nose.

  “How come you told me not to hit him?”

  “Because if anyone was going to hit him I wanted it to be me.” Jen didn’t move until Giles’ car disappeared around the corner. Then she folded up, a whimper of pain escaping her compressed lips. “I think I’ve broken my hand.”

  Chapter Three

  “You can’t do any more weeding. You might as well have an early dinner with me,” Sebastian said, glancing over at her as he drove from the doctor’s office and turned onto the main street of Sloan. He’d always liked her feistiness. Hell, he couldn’t believe she’d hit Giles. His mouth twitched at the memory but he wasn’t dumb enough to let her see his amusement.

  “You don’t have to nursemaid me. You heard the doctor say that nothing’s broken.”

  “He also told you to rest your hand.”

  “But I’ve got so many things to do before I start school. I didn’t expect to waste my afternoon waiting to see the doctor.”

  “Tomorrow,” Sebastian said firmly. “We’ll pick up your prescription for pain relief, and I’ll cook you dinner at Wayne’s place.”

  “Just because you held me during an orgasm it doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do. You’re not the boss of me. I quit, remember?”

  Sebastian pulled up outside the pharmacy. “You didn’t quit. You handed in your notice. Where’s your prescription? It will be quicker if I run in and collect it.”
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  “You never used to be such a tyrant.”

  “Because you used to behave with a modicum of sense,” Sebastian retorted. “Prescription. Now.”

  “Bully.” She slapped it onto his palm.

  When he returned with the pills she was hunched up, her eyes closed. Her hair was straight again today, but a few errant brown curls were attempting to spring forth at her temples. Her cheeks were pale, a marked change from earlier. He started up his vehicle and headed for home. Wayne’s house. He didn’t have a home now.

  When they arrived Jen was asleep. Wayne hadn’t returned from his visit yet because his vehicle wasn’t in the driveway, but it didn’t matter. His best friend wanted Jen. He wouldn’t mind if Sebastian persuaded her to stay the night.

  Of course he might be a little pissed if Jen spent the night in Sebastian’s bed, but he’d be damned if he intended to spend the night sleeping on the couch. It was about six inches too short for his six foot three inch frame for a start, and the leather was slippery and uncomfortable during the summer heat.

  “Jen, we’re here.”

  When she didn’t answer, he climbed out and jogged around to the passenger side. After unfastening the seatbelt, he bent to lift her out.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking you inside. You’ve been overdoing things,” he added, his tone skimming along the edges of accusation.

  “I can walk. I’m not an invalid.”

  A snort escaped him. “I don’t think I’ve ever met such a contrary woman. You weren’t like this in the office. You’re worse than my ex.”

  “I’m nothing like your ex.”

  All true. Jen didn’t have a deceitful bone in her body. “But you are obstinate.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with independence.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with accepting help from a friend either.”

  A crinkle creased her forehead. “Are we friends?”

  “Yes.” And soon they’d be more if Wayne had his way. Wayne thought she’d be right for both of them. The truth was that although he’d protested, he’d agree with almost anything Wayne suggested if it meant he could spend time with his best friend. Sad but true. “Yes, we’re friends.”